Students have been injured by falling down the stairs, being run over by a bicycle, spraining their ankle, rupturing their achillis tendon, running marathons on pavement, or simply stubbing their toe really badly.
In whichever manner students came to have their foot conditions, my own past experience gives me a personal reason for making the class totally doable for them.
Here's how I've tailored the workout, exercise by exercise, so that such students can do it with minimum stress to their feet:
During Heel Lifts:
You can either raise both of your heels just an inch up and down, or alternate your heels.
During Thigh Work:
- If you're a student who takes in a studio: do "chair" in place of parallel and legs-together thigh-work. "Chair" is a thigh-work position during which the feet stay flat on the floor (the teacher will show you how to do it).
- If you're a student who does the Bar Method DVDs, simply keep your heels low and bend your knees less than the DVD instructor is doing.
- If you simply have sensitive feet, try standing on a small Bar Method mat (shown at right), which you'll be able to buy on our website starting this week.
- Whichever Bar Method workout you're doing, feel free to substitute leg lifts for any other thigh exercise.
Whatever your foot issue, I hope these guidelines enable you feel the burn in comfort!